The Handbook of International Adoption Medicine

A Guide for Physicians, Parents, and Providers

Laurie C. Miller, M.D.

Compiles all needed topics related to this expanding group of children and reviews these topics from the standpoint of international adoption and the special aspects related to care of these children

Written for physicians, but will also appeal to adoption professionals, mental health providers, pediatric subspecialists, and educators who encounter internationally adopted children in their practices

An essential resource for parents who have adopted internationally, or those contemplating an international adoption

The Handbook of International Adoption Medicine

A Guide for Physicians, Parents, and Providers

Laurie C. Miller, M.D.

Description

Since 1989, American families have adopted more than 230,000 children from other countries. Many of these children have lived in crowded conditions, sometimes with poor standards of hygiene, inadequate nutrition, and limited numbers of caregivers. Some suffer from endemic infectious diseases. Upon arrival, practitioners often fail to recognize the unique concerns of this group. This text provides an overview of the specialized medical and developmental issues that affect internationally adopted children, offering guidelines to the physicians caring for these children and their families before, during, and after adoption. The reader will learn how to advise families prior to an international adoption, how to perform an effective initial screening assessment of
the newly arrived child, and how to recognize and manage developmental and other more long-term problems as they emerge.